Compost and Soil Record
Know which heap is ready and what has already been spread where, instead of guessing at both every spring.
GG-04 2 pages
Garden and growing · GG-12
No-Dig Bed and Mulch Record
A no dig bed record — each bed identified once, then every load of compost, manure, woodchip or card logged with depth, source, cost and the crop that followed.
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2 pages. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.
Print it and write on it
Fill it in type and save
The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.
What this sheet is for
See what each bed has actually had put on it over the years, so mulching is decided from a record instead of from how tired the soil looks in spring.
Who it is for
No-dig gardeners and allotment holders, and anyone converting old beds or lawn to a no-dig system.
How to use it
- List each bed once: its size, when it was made, what it was laid on and what was there before.
- Log every mulch or top-dressing as it goes on — material, where it came from, the depth in your own measure and the cost.
- Write in the crop that followed and what you noticed about weeds and worms.
- Read down one bed's rows before deciding what it gets next season.
What is on the sheet
2 pages, in this order:
Page 1
Printed under the title: Beds that are never dug live on what goes on top of them. This is the record of every load of compost, manure, woodchip, leafmould or card put down, bed by bed, and what came out of each bed after it.
Your depth, your source. How deep to mulch, how often and with what is a matter of what you can get, what the bed is growing and what your soil is like — nobody's figure but your own belongs here. Write the depth you actually applied so next year's decision is made against a record rather than a guess.
Write-on lines: Garden or plot · Year · Main compost source
The beds — one row per bed, filled in once
Table, 12 rows: Bed · Size · Made when · Base laid on · Edging · What was there before
Page 2
Mulch and top-dressing log — one row per load, bed by bed
Table, 21 rows: Date · Bed · Material · Source · Depth put on · Loads / bags · Cost · Crop that followed · Weeds & worms
Questions
Why is there no mulch depth printed?
Because the right depth depends on what you can get, what the bed grows and what your soil is like, and a figure printed for one garden is wrong for the next. Write the depth you put on; the record shows whether it was enough.
How is this different from the Compost and Soil Record?
That sheet is about making compost and testing soil. This one is about what is spread on each bed and what grew afterwards — the bed's history, not the heap's.
Related sheets
Compost Batch Record
Know which bin is ready and which is still cooking, and see why one batch came out well and another did not.
GR-07 1 page
Vegetable Garden Planner
Plan the season with last year's beds in front of you, which is the only way rotation decisions get made from fact rather than memory.
GG-08 2 pages
Allotment Plot Plan
Get the plot down on paper to a consistent scale, so bed lengths, seed quantities and next year's rotation can be worked out in the warm.
GG-02 2 pages
